richardpitman Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 I am 39 today and don't know how to "bind" a workgroup reference ala AutoCAD xref "bind". Is there a Vectorworks equivalent to this function? Many thanks in anticipation Richard PS I woul like to know the answer before I am 40! Quote Link to comment
Travis Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Richard, The way you "bind" WGR'd layers to your working drawing is to break the link(s). From the Workgroup References window, highlight the links and click Remove. Check keep info. This will import the layers directly into the file. BTW, we always do this prior to issuing a final C/D set. This way, future "updates" on the referenced files (typically standard details, etc.) will NOT be reflected in previously issued drawings. Good luck, Quote Link to comment
richardpitman Posted August 30, 2006 Author Share Posted August 30, 2006 Dear Travis many thanks for your reply. However, although it breaks the link and preserves the info, the info is still alterable by recipients. We would like to capture the drawing and send it in an unalterable state. We have only been able to do this by sending PDF's of drawings but this is a bit inconvenient. Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Do you want the recipients to be able to alter some parts of the drawing and not others, or not alter anything in the drawing? Quote Link to comment
Heather Fagans Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Are there ways to do both? Not alter anything in the drawing in some cases, and only lock out certain layers in others? -Heather 2.1 ghz Power PC G5 1GB SDRAMM Quote Link to comment
Ken Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 ... We would like to capture the drawing and send it in an unalterable state... This reminds me of the discussion we had several years ago about the VW Viewer. NNA has done an excellent job of stripping Viewer down to bare essentials so that recipients of your drawings can "see it but can't change it" -- including any broken links to WGRs. Quote Link to comment
richardpitman Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 Katie, thanks for reply. I am wanting recipients to not be abe to alter any part of the drawing. We generally send drawings as .dwg as most of our consultants are AutoCAD users. Quote Link to comment
jan15 Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Happy belated birthday, Richard. Courage! Does Autocad have some way to create a DWG file that can't be altered? I don't know of any, and this recent Autodesk forum decries the lack of one: http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=407217 Binding xref's doesn't do it. At most you have to explode the block made from the xref, and then you can edit anything. The DWF format was created as Autodesk's way to distribute non-editable files, competing with the PDF format. And I think even DWF isn't secure if the recipient really wants to alter the drawing and buys software to convert it back to DWG. But they give out a free DWF Writer that's supposed to make DWF files from any Windows application, in case you want to try that. You can't open a DWF file in Autocad and use it as a reference, which I gather is what you want your recipients to be able to do. That's apparently really hard, to make a true cad file that's locked. And think of the headaches it'll cause if they do it. Last-minute changes needed before printing, and somehow the file got locked and noone knows the password. What fun. Quote Link to comment
richardpitman Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 Jan15 many thanks for your message. I must admit I wasn't aware that you could unbind a bound xref as easily as that! I think the only way to solve my problem is to issue as pdf or ensure that recipients have VWviewer. Many thanks to all the other helpful advise, this is my first time of using this service and very pleased at response. Richard Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Richard, As ArchKen has suggested, the VW Viewer is intended for just this. The end-user can flip through layers and classes, saved views, etc., but they are unable to physically change anything about the drawing. It's a free download here: www.nemetschek.net/downloads Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.